The War King
The War King was the leader of the Great Houses during the War. Biography On the Homeworld The War King was one of four "mutations" in his generation, four members of the Great Houses whose character and personality were so at odds with the staid values of the Homeworld that they had a drastic effect on the Spiral Politic. (PROSE: The Book of the War) On Gallifrey, the future War King was known as Magnus. (COMIC: Flashback) As a renegade The future War King became a renegade, the Houses' second greatest criminal. He believed that, as a member of the Houses, he deserved dominion over the Spiral Politic. He often manipulated an assortment of lesser species into helping him achieve these ends. (PROSE: War King, The War King's Inaugural Address) Taking the name of War Chief, the renegade joined forces with a lesser species group known as the s. Together, they collected and brainwashed human soldiers from various wars in Earth's history, in an effort to build an army. The Doctor used a hypercube to summon the Time Lords to deal with the situation. (TV: The War Games) As the War King, he would keep a hypercube as a memento on his desk. (PROSE: War King) The War Chief was killed, and his new body was hideously deformed. He next tried to ally himself with Nazi Germany. This failed and he died once more — this time returning to life successfully in a young, handsome body. (PROSE: Exodus) In this body, he was imprisoned on Shada, the Great Houses' prison planet. However, he escaped to 1970s Earth. (PROSE: Prisoners of the Sun, War King) He began calling himself "the Master," and continued to use lesser species to try to conquer parts of the Spiral Politic. (TV: Terror of the Autons et al.) Rise to power It's not clear how the Master became aware of the coming War, but The Book of the War speculates that it was through his contact with these military lesser species. Whatever his source, it had a profound effect on him. 81 years before the War began, he returned to the Homeworld, forced his way into the presidential chambers (killing three guards), and had some kind of confrontation with the Head of the Presidency, during which they were alone for fifteen minutes. Although the Presidency was characterised by strength in the face of a spat of invasion attempts by the lesser species, its Head refused to accept that there was an enemy at all. (PROSE: War King) Five years later (76 years before the War) the War King returned, and turned himself in for his crimes. He requested that he be allowed to address a Closed Session of the Ruling Houses, and although the Presidency opposed it (and its head refused to attend), his request was granted. The future War King warned the Houses of the enemy, and they agreed to pardon him for his crimes. He left again, and the Houses began a fragmented effort to open diplomatic channels with the future enemy. (PROSE: Closed Session, War King) Another forty years later (36 years pre-War) the renegade who would become the War King returned again. Immediately, he was captured and the head of the presidency called together the Ruling Houses to deliver the Faraway Declaration. During the address, the War King was bound in a restraining device/life support system, and he was left there as the head of the Presidency departed. (PROSE: Faraway Declaration, War King) The head of the Presidency was meant to return in five days — and he nearly did. However, he was late by several agonising minutes, and when he did return it was only as a literal head. The War King simply stepped out of his restraints (although this part of the story seems mythologised) and read aloud the message held in the head's mouth: "We are not amused." (PROSE: First Message from the Enemy) Reign The War King did not take power immediately. Instead, Academician Umbaste was immediately inaugurated, per the specifications of the Faraway Declaration. Umbaste was weak-willed, so although he held the title of leader of the Great Houses, the War King was far more influential in the Homeworld's War preparations. He became a beloved figurehead among the soldiery who would become the First Wave, and once Umbaste's thirty-year reign was over, his election was nearly unanimous. He insisted that he preferred not to be referred to by the traditional presidential title, and thus is almost always referred to as "War King." (PROSE: War King) Two years before the War's official beginning, Compassion began to develop into the first human/timeship hybrid. The War King tried to recruit her for a timeship breeding project, but was initially unsuccessful. (PROSE: Timeline) In the tenth year of the War, Compassion and the War King agreed to create a "second front" against the enemy. Considering Compassion's insistence that "House Lucia" (i.e. House Lolita) was the true enemy, it seems that this led to Compassion's later offensive against Lolita. PROSE: Compassion, Carmen Yeh's "Fantastical Travels in an Infinite Universe", Timeline) The War King sent Homunculette to investigate the Elder Things. (PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5) Appearance The War King had many scars from the days when he was a criminal in the eyes of the Great Houses. After gaining office, the War King decided to keep the scars to illustrate his suitability for the role. (PROSE: The Book of the War) External Links Category:Presidency of the Great Houses Category:Individual Time Lords Category:Individual Homeworlders